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How many of us will be obese by 2015?!?

Posted on 03.12.10 |

Perfect excuse to use a picture of Butterbean.

The nutrition trend continues. At this point it seems my blog is focusing far more on nutrition, when chiropractic should be the main topic. However, health and wellness through chiropractic includes excellent nutrition, and discussion of the struggles many people have with nutrition and obesity in the United States, and abroad.

A few months ago I spoke to a class of pre-med students, a few of which were about to travel down the path of becoming a chiropractor. The main topic of course was my profession, but I also brought up some information regarding the importance of educating the public on good health practices, which medical doctors have seemed to put by the wayside in favor of a quick fix drug or surgery. One of the most startling revelations was the speculation by statisticians that 70% of Americans would be considered clinically obese by 2015. That’s only FIVE years away!!!

The impact chiropractors can have on a persons life with an adjustment is vital in my approach to health and wellness. One of the main contributing factors to poor health, wellness, and nervous system dysfunction is diet and nutrition, or lack there of, and I am hoping to help a few more people through the process.

Just last week I spend some time with a practice member to create a reasonable eating plan, that is not so much concerned with weight loss, but her body composition over time. Weight loss can be a result, as long as her muscle mass increases at the same time. I am very encouraged by her current accountability, and hopefully with the help of myfitnesspal.com she will easily track her diet on the way to success.

I found some fantastic information about obesity, the state of most North Americans nutrition, and the current state of our food sources, and thought I would share them with the rest of you. Most of them are self-explanatory

“The world has become fat in just a few decades.”

“Ultimately, widespread obesity and the chronic diseases that contribute to the bulk of deaths in the world are less a result of poor individual dietary choices than the consequences of a high-tech, interconnected world in which governments and multinational corporations have extraordinary power to shape our everyday lives.”

“Man ate and drank in the healthiest manner possible during the Upper Paleolithic period [beginning about 40,000 years ago], when humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers.”

“About 50%-80% of food came from plants and 20%-50% from animals.”

“People living at this time consumed no grains, and no dairy products other than breast milk.”

Today, subsidies up to $50 billion per year are allocated for the production of cheap corn, soybeans, meat and poultry products.

“The farmers would lose a great deal of money if they took acreage out of production to grow vegetables and fruits. Our food system was shaped so that these Iowa farmers could grow just two crops [corn and soybeans]—which produce much of the caloric sweetener and 80% of the vegetable oil used in our country. Furthermore, cheap corn, wheat, and soybeans constitute the engine that drives the beef and poultry industries—all of this a major focus of the US government.”

“US soybean and corn farmers have been selling their crops for less than what it costs to produce them” and that affects the cost of chicken, pork, and beef. “Given the role of fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, this means that by extension, sweets and soft drinks have been subsidized.”

“So, on one hand, we have much cheaper beef, poultry, corn, soybeans, and sugar. But on the other, this has occurred at the expense of healthy plant foods—particularly fruits and vegetables, whose relative cost is great compared to [subsidized] fats, sugars, and meats in today’s marketplaces. The results for all of us—not only American but around the globe—have been devastating.”

“Today, we’re awash in highly refined sugar and grains.”

“Nothing has contributed more to our weight gain than the clash between our drinking habits and our biology.” “We drink a lot of our calories, but we don’t cut our food intake as a result.” “The average American gets over 450 calories a day from beverages.”

It takes a lot of exercise to work off a piece of pie. If a piece of pie contains 500 calories, it would take 1.5 hours of running, several hours of fast biking, or an hour of the most vigorous aerobics to offset those calories.

“Many of the meals at a fast-food restaurant—be it a hamburger, pizza, or taco—contain 1,000 to 2,000 calories.”

“It’s much easier to cut 10 to 100 calories from one’s diet than it is to burn off the equivalent amount of calories through exercise.”

“Around the world, there has been a big change in the fats used for cooking and food processing.” “Today, the principle vegetable oils are soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, palm and peanut oil [all omega-6s].” Global vegetable oil consumption tripled from 1961 to 1990, with soybean oil being the most consumed worldwide.

“Some of the newer oils are highly pathogenic [trans fats].”

“Diet, inactivity, and energy imbalance are what kill us.”

“The shift to calorically sweetened beverages, larger portion sizes, more eating occasions, and the increased availability of sweeter and fattier foods—which are a result of technological and economic changes—are causing the obesity epidemic, not genes per se. Today we are eating, drinking, and moving in ways unprecedented in human history.”

“The American Dietetic Association is funded by many food companies and, I [Popkin] argue, views nutrition through the lens of the food industry.” American schoolchildren of all ages should drink only water—without flavoring, additives, or carbonation.

“My [Popkin] favorite way to help people lose weight is to look at what they drink over the course of a typical day.” “A shift to only noncaloric beverages will do it for most of us. The top 40% of caloric beverage drinkers in the US consume over 760 calories a day from beverages.”

“It would be difficult for a person to be heavy if he or she drank only water, consumed a small amount of added sugar in foods, ate lots of fruits and vegetables, and ate no fried foods. Of course, one needs also to be physically active.”

“Most well-respected nutrition researchers have stated that we should drink at most 4 ounces of fruit juice a day.” “Even when there is no added sugar, fruit juice contains as many calories as a soft drink.”

The consumption of diet sweeteners may get us to consume more calories in general.

The World Is Fat: The Fads, Trends, Policies, And Products That Are Fattening The Human Race Avery, 2009 By Barry Popkin Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition at the University of North Carolina

Just switching from caloric beverages like soda, Starbucks, juice, and smoothies save us a potential of 760 calories a day!

I will admit, I have seen the show The Biggest Loser. I actually like what it does for people, which at the bare minimum gives them hope for change. What it made me realize is how many calories some people actually eat each day and have no idea.

A couple of beers and a plate of chili cheese fries? 3000 calories. FOR ONE MEAL.

The program P90X that mentioned in the previous post breaks down what I feel is a very consistent and proper diet based on calories and at what percentage each meal should be made up of.

Here is the equation:

Choose your goal weight. For me it would be to stay at a 185lbs.

185lbs x 10 = 1850 calories, which are the number of calories your body needs just to function on its own each day and remain at 185lbs.

185 + 20% = 2220 calories, which is the number needed to do all things during the day and maintain 185lbs.

2220 + 600 = 2820 calories, which would be the numbered needed to maintain the weight of 185lbs, and give you the required energy to do the p90x workout on a regular basis(please don’t forget your antioxidants post workout.)

The suggested percentages breakdown for success is 50% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 20% fats and oils. If people feel sluggish, it is also suggested that a 40%, 40%, 20% can be followed, which is essentially the famous Zone diet.

I am unsure how many of you know how much food 2820 calories of QUALITY food, the majority of which is protein, is, but it is a bear. Until your body gets used to it and turns into a fat burning machine.

It goes without saying, if you are not doing a p90x workout, the 600 calorie addition can be cut to 100-200 calories depending on your level of exercise.

I am feeling that I am in a goal setting mood, and this Monday I will be starting my next round of p90x. This time I will keep a diary on my blog, photos, successes, and minimal failures in the journey. I also need to set up a regular schedule of getting a chiropractor to adjust me. Does anyone know a good one? Working with two family members who are chiropractors, you would think it would be easy to get an adjustment, but I’ve neglected to practice what I preach in a few areas, and definitely need to get a weekly, or possibly tri-weekly adjustment schedule to get ready for this. Exciting.

If anyone has actually read to the end of this and wants to join me, please do. 🙂